Frye's status is the one most out of their control because he is the only unrestricted free agent among the trio. He apparently has lost some leverage because the destination that made the most sense, Golden State, directed its attention to coming to terms with point guard Shaun Livingston on Wednesday. Frye still could draw interest from Cleveland and Portland but some of the Suns' free-agency contacts (unrestricted free agents Pau Gasol, Ed Davis and Josh McRoberts or restricted free-agent Patrick Patterson) could fill the void in different ways and/or come at a lesser price. Gasol has been connected more to Chicago, Dallas, Golden State, New York, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Lakers. McRoberts, Davis and Patterson are on a lower tier but McRoberts seemingly has interest from half of the league.

Bledsoe and Tucker are more in the Suns' control as restricted free agents. It gives the Suns avenues to sign deals with them or match any offer sheet they might sign with another team, which can begin happening in one week.

The Suns' contact with former Sacramento point guard Isaiah Thomas appears to be protecting themselves on the Bledsoe front, perhaps from another team's max offer or an offer sheet poisoned with backloading or frontloading. Thomas has interest from Detroit, which agreed to terms with Jodie Meeks on Wednesday, as well as Boston, Dallas, Miami and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Suns also have three other point guards under contract control with Goran Dragic, Ennis (once he officially signs) and Ish Smith (whose 2014-15 salary becomes guaranteed in 11 days).

With Tucker, the Suns also just drafted another player at his position in Warren and have Marcus Morris coming back as well as Gerald Green, who split time between the two wing spots last season. Free-agency alternatives to Tucker would start with Luol Deng, Chandler Parsons, Trevor Ariza or shooting guard Gordon Hayward at higher prices or Danny Granger or forward Marvin Williams at a lesser price.

Parsons and Hayward are restricted free agents with Parsons expected to stay in Houston despite interest from at least six teams, and Hayward on the verge of a large Cleveland offer, which Utah would be expected to match. Deng and Ariza have a wide range of interested teams, including Dallas, Miami and the Los Angeles Lakers interested in each player and Washington wanting Ariza back. There is lighter competition for now with Granger, who the Los Angeles Clippers want back, and Williams, who will draw interest from Miami and others.

In the background, this is really the first week that the Suns would be a player in a Kevin Love trade or any other trade for a high-salary player. They did not have the cap space to absorb Love's contract until Tuesday. The focus of any Love trade remains on Golden State, although it is viable that Flip Saunders, now the Timberwolves coach, would hold onto his best player to see how the season plays out and still have the ability to deal Love at the February trade deadline, if desired.

Top 20 NBA free agents for 2014:

Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, right, and Heat star LeBron James both opted out of their contracts this offseason and are big catches on the market. HoopsHype.com ranks the 20 best free agents for the summer. (Photo: Steve Mitchell, USA TODAY Sports)

19. C Spencer Hawes. Last team: Cavaliers. Status: Signed with Clippers (four years, $23 million). Hawes had decent stats as a starter. He would be a nice rotation center for a contender. (Photo: David Richard, USA TODAY Sports)

18. SF Evan Turner. Last team: Pacers. Status: Unrestricted. Turner was really filling the stat sheet in Philadelphia until he was moved to Indiana, where he didn't play much of a role. That trade will cost him millions in free agency. (Photo: Brad Mills Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports)

17. SG Avery Bradley. Last team: Celtics. Status: Re-signed (four years, $32 million). Bradley will make a lot of money based on his defensive prowess alone. He has shown flashes of a more refined offensive game under coach Brad Stevens. (Photo: John Geliebter, USA TODAY Sports)

15. PG Isaiah Thomas. Last team: Kings. Status: Sign-and-trade to Suns (four years, $27 million). Is Thomas a new and improved Nate Robinson? He's able to score in bunches, but is not a great playmaker. Thomas put together a great season for a bad team. (Photo: Kelley L. Cox, USA TODAY Sports)

14. C Marcin Gortat. Last team: Wizards. Status: Re-signed (five years, $60 million). The run-and-jump center finally found a great situation in Washington. There will be no shortage of offers for Gortat. (Photo: Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports)

13. SF Gordon Hayward. Last team: Jazz. Status: Re-signed (four years, $63 million). Utah could end up regretting not signing him to an extension. The athletic and smart Hayward will be in high demand. (Photo: Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports)

12. SF Paul Pierce. Last team: Nets. Status: Signed with Wizards (two years, $10.8 million). You want him on the court in crunch time during the playoffs. Pierce could be a quality reserve for a contender next season. (Photo: Joe Camporeale, USA TODAY Sports)

11. SG Lance Stephenson. Last team: Pacers. Status: Signed with Hornets (three years, $27 million). Stephenson has talent, toughness and passion, and his best basketball years are ahead of him, but the antics may scare a few teams away. (Photo: Steve Mitchell, USA TODAY Sports)

10. PF Pau Gasol. Last team: Lakers. Status: Signed with Bulls (three years, $22 million). The Lakers will pretty much start from scratch this summer and we'll have to see if Gasol figures into the team's plans -- or the other way around. (Photo: Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports)

9. PF/C Greg Monroe. Last team: Pistons. Status: Restricted. Monroe has quietly become one of the top centers in the NBA, but we saw little or no progress this season. (Photo: Rick Osentoski, USA TODAY Sports)

8. SF Luol Deng. Last team: Cavaliers. Status: Signed with Heat (two years, $22 million). The Cavaliers may have given away a bunch of draft picks for nothing to get him. Cleveland proved to be a terrible fit for Deng, who could be looking to sign with a contender now. (Photo: David Richard, USA TODAY Sports)

7. PG Eric Bledsoe. Last team: Suns. Status: Restricted. Bledsoe lived up to his mini LeBron reputation in Phoenix. He put up numbers and won in a contract year. Durability is a concern, though. (Photo: Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports)

6. PG Kyle Lowry. Last team: Raptors. Status: Re-signed (four years, $48 million). A gritty and aggressive point guard that should have been an All-Star this season, Lowry was the best player in Toronto. (Photo: John E. Sokolowski, USA TODAY Sports)

5. PF Dirk Nowitzki. Last team: Mavericks. Status: Re-signed (three years, $30 million). Nowitzki was back at an All-Star level after a so-so 2012-13 season by his standards. (Photo: Matthew Emmons, USA TODAY Sports)

4. SG Dwyane Wade. Last team: Heat. Status: Re-signed (two years, $31 million). Wade could technically become a free agent, but we pretty much know he's off limits for any team outside Miami. He is still a star player if health permits. (Photo: Steve Mitchell, USA TODAY Sports)

2. SF Carmelo Anthony. Last team: Knicks. Status: Re-signed (five years, $124 million). With some years left in his prime, Melo will draw massive attention should he decide to leave New York -- which is looking like a feasible scenario with the way things have gone in the Big Apple. (Photo: Russell Isabella, USA TODAY Sports)

1. SF LeBron James. Last team: Heat. Status: Signed with Cavaliers (two years, $42 million). The four-time MVP and two-time NBA champion is already one of the top players of all time. His decision can potentially alter the landscape of the NBA. He would make a contender out of any NBA team. (Photo: Derick E. Hingle, USA TODAY Sports)

All the anticipation. All the rumors. All the speculation. It all comes to a head beginning at 9 p.m. Arizona time on Monday, when the NBA free agent market officially opens.

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Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Safe bet?

LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade are all available, having opted out of their contracts with the Miami Heat. But the safe bet is all three did so with the idea of staying in Miami and making some financial sacrifices together to allow Pat Riley to go out and bolster a team that was steamrolled in its fourth straight NBA Finals appearance by the San Antonio Spurs.

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Leave the Big Apple?

Carmelo Anthony is on the market, too. But will he really pass up all the money and all the glamour that the Knicks and the Big Apple have to offer to go elsewhere?

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Out of Dallas?

Dirk Nowitzki is a free agent as well. The chances of him leaving the Dallas Mavericks are about as likely as the Cowboys taking that big blue star off their helmets.

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Match any offer?

The Suns have promised to match any offer for restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe and the Utah Jazz figure to do the same with Gordon Hayward. The air of inevitability is doing little to dull the fervor.

Associated Press

Eyes on Miami

Players can begin meeting with teams on Tuesday, but they cannot sign contracts until July 10, a moratorium that is established while the league works to set the salary cap for next season. All eyes are on Miami to start. Riley specializes in closing deals, and he may not stop with his three All-Stars. But here are five other teams to watch in the early going.

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Team to watch

HOUSTON ROCKETS: GM Daryl Morey is one of the most aggressive in the game. Two years ago, he traded for James Harden. Last year he won the Dwight Howard sweepstakes. And he's not done. Morey wants a third star in Houston to help the Rockets challenge the Spurs, Thunder and Clippers atop the Western Conference. Never one to settle, Morey has James and Anthony at the top of his list.

David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Team to watch

CHICAGO BULLS: Tom Thibodeau's proud team has overachieved the last two seasons while superstar Derrick Rose has been sidelined by knee injuries. They've done it with a defensive intensity that has been unmatched, but even with Rose expected to be ready to go for training camp and Doug McDermott added on draft night, the Bulls still need some help to put the ball in the basket. Nobody does that better than Melo.

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Team to watch

ATLANTA HAWKS: They have quietly made the playoffs for seven straight seasons, an achievement that comes with an asterisk since they play in the woeful Eastern Conference. But the Hawks made a trade Sunday night with Toronto that helps them free up some $15 million in cap space, which is enough to land a big-time free agent for promising second-year coach Mike Budenholzer.

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Team to watch

DALLAS MAVERICKS: Nowitzki figures to take a large paycut to help his team free up some cash to bolster a lineup that gave the Spurs a harder time in the playoffs than any other team. They traded for Tyson Chandler to grab the attention of stars looking for a winner and owner Mark Cuban told a Dallas radio station last week that "we're going to swing for the fences."

Rob Schumacher/azcentral sports

Team to watch

PHOENIX SUNS: In his first season on the job, GM Ryan McDonough helped engineer a remarkable season for a young Suns team that won 48 games. McDonough can offer free agents the chance to play for an innovative coach in Jeff Hornacek and with a dynamic backcourt in Goran Dragic and Bledsoe, presuming he returns. The Suns also have the best medical staff in the league and are armed with draft picks and young players going forward to make the future in Phoenix as bright as the logo on their court.